Checkpoint One: My topic for the semester will be Beowulf! I will explore the reasoning behind why he felt as though he had to die. It was something that a lot of classes in my high school were able to read in their curriculum but none of mine ever got to it- so I am looking forward to focusing on it!
Checkpoint 2:
Jennie Tanner
Dr. Tracy
Checkpoint 2
Annotated Bibliography:
Frederick M. Biggs. The Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 53, No. 211 (Aug., 2002), pp. 311-328. Oxford University Press.
-This article summarizes how Beowulf has sunken to the bottom of the sea and it explores the unlikely hood of there being boats on the water while he is there. I think this is an interesting concept, because as the article explains, the “absence” or the mention of boats makes the picture that is painted of them swimming, rather than being in a boat- so working to keep their heads above water.
Brooke, Stopford A. "Beowulf' and 'Beowulf-The Poem." English Literature: From theBeginning to the Norman Conquest (1898). Rpt. in Classical and Medieval LiteratureCriticism. Ed. Dennis
Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Oct. 2014
- I chose this resource because I find it interesting how the author describes Beowulf as being more of a narrative than poetry, and I find her points highly useful in understanding this poem/narrative. I would not have considered it a narrative if I had not read this, as I was in poem mode in regards to this.
Durant, Jack. "The Function of Joy in Beowulf." Tennessee Studies in Literature 7 (1962): 61-69. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. Carol T. Gaffke and Anna J. Sheets. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale Research, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
-I chose this article because Durant outlines three different types or levels of joy that can be found in Beowulf. I would not have thought about three levels and been able to break them down in such a way, hence my reasoning behind this.
Quick Summary of Beowulf:
Beowulf and fourteen others come to help the Scylding tribe, because they had once helped Beowulf’s dad. Over five days and nights Beowulf and a companion swam across the open sea to fight the monsters that lay beneath. Beowulf makes it across the channel and is able to contend that he has escaped with his life and will finish the task he had set forth to complete. Beowulf accomplished his task. Beowulf is known throughout the lands to be this great warrior. He seeks out challenges to better himself, and he is very aware that he is a great warrior. He comes to the lands because he hears of Grendel, a mutant creature. He fights this creature naked, he did not use any weapons. He rips Grendel’s arm off, and Grendel escapes and runs back to his lair under the swamp. Grendel lives with his mother, and Beowulf volunteers to go destroy her. He swims to the bottom of the swamp and has a battle with this creature and slices her head off. He then becomes the king of the land after having sliced her head off. The steward to the king gives Beowulf a sword that is a family heirloom after Beowulf rips Grendel’s arm off.
Quotations: "He escaped away, enjoyed his life a little while longer; yet behind him, guarding his path, was his right hand…” (73-74)
- I like this quote a lot. It shows the brutal revenge that Beowulf gained on Grendel. Grendel was this horrible monster who did thesepeople so many wrongs and Beowulf just went and ripped his arm off of him and watched Grendel wander away to essentially die from the pain. This most definitely contributed to Beowulf’s ego in that he knows he managed to rip off Grendel’s hand on his own and killed him finally for these people. I think that Beowulf only earned respect by being a good warrior. I wish he had earned respect by not being egotistical.
“I would not bear a sword or weapon to this serpent, if I knew any other way I could grapple with this great beast after my boast, as I once did with Grendel; but I expect the heat of battle-flames there, steam and venom; therefore shield and byrnie will I have on me.” (79)
-I included this quote because quite frankly, I found it to be impressive. Here is Beowulf, being very brave as we know he is. However, he is admitting that while he battled Grendel with no weapon, he will not be doing the same with this other creature- Grendel’s mother so to speak. Beowulf has enough common sense to admit that yes, there are sometimes creatures that are tougher than he, and I think this quote speaks volumes to that. Here is someone who is very high up on their horse yet he finally can admit that he is not able to just win every battle. I see him telling the public that he will be using a shield a sign that he actually has a sense of morality. This shows Beowulf’s more subtle and private side that we do not see anywhere else because he hides behind his mask of tough-guyness.
“It is no mystery to many men, my lord Hygelac- the great meeting, what a time of great struggle Grendel and I had in that place where he made so many sorrows for the victory- Scyldings, life long misery-I avenged them all..” (72)
- Finally, I chose to include this quote for one main reason. This reason being that it seems to show how high Beowulf’s horse stood metaphorically. I took this quote to express that Beowulf believes that this actually makes up for all the lost lives. I do understand that in the time period which this was written, “avengement” meant an eye for an eye. However, from my standpoint, one cannot ever truly avenge a lost life. Lives are all extremely precious and there is no simple avengement of one that is lost, no matter what the circumstances are. The bigger picture here in my eyes is, what would we as a society say today if we thought a lot of lives were “avenged” by the loss of one other life? I can almost guarantee that no one would agree with it.
Checkpoint Three
Annotated bibliography
Acocella, Joan. "Slaying Monsters." General Onefile. The New Yorker, 2 June 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
I chose this article because I personally find Beowulf hard to understand. This article states that in the 1920s it was difficult to find someone qualified to translate Beowulf, and then it goes on to talk about one who was able to. He died before he published it, and it sat hidden until his son took it out and shared it with the world. This struck me as odd, because I would think that he would have wanted to see the outcome of his work and see how many people read his translation of Beowulf. I would not have been able to translate Beowulf today even with the immense understanding people have of the work, so I can only imagine how much of a genius J.R.R must have been to be able to do so himself back in the 1920s when so little was known/was still being figured out about the work.
Biggs, Frederick M. "The Politics of Succession in "Beowulf" and Anglo-Saxon England." JSTOR. Medieval Academy of America, 3 July 2005. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
This reference is one that was cited in Biggs' other article I had found. In class we go over a lot about Anglo-Saxon England obviously, and I felt like this article not only heightened my sense of understanding of Beowulf but also helped with the historical aspects of the epic. The essay starts out by saying it is an "essay about change and the perception of change". Right there in the opening line one knows that it will be mixed with historical facts because kingdoms were being fought over and changing hands during medieval times. I like that this article also addresses that "he uses treasure to draw attention to the moment that epitomizes the problem". The use of shiny things in the Medieval ages to make up for losses and deaths in battle will never cease to amaze me and it's definitely a topic I would like to see more of in future articles that I research. This article also considers how Beowulf cannot "prevent the historical fall of the Geats". The article then goes on to say how the poet made all of this real to the audiences and it "forces them to consider several possibilities".
Harris, Joseph. "Beowulf in Literary History." JSTOR. Penn State University Press, 1 Nov. 1982. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
I chose this article for the main reason of it's background. It is an older article than most of the ones I previously found, and it also delves into the literary history behind Beowulf. While the historical significance lies with the Anglo-Saxon history, I believe the literary history of the epic is important just as much. This article is bold enough to say that we have ignored much of the literary history with Beowulf which I must say I found quite intriguing. It is also stated that the "anthology- like" characteristics in Beowulf were overlooked by many other scholars. Harris essentially undermines some of the previous research done around Beowulf and shows how the other scholars were not looking with their eyes fully open while analyzing the text. After having read this article I can see where Harris is coming from and I have to agree that there were most likely many instances where this is true.
Scholar Reflection:
I have found a wide variety of scholars with my research. I think the most interesting one’s writings was the one that was published in 1980’s. This is surprising because as time passes one would think that scholars would become more interesting with what they have to say- I know this is bold of me to be saying considering I am nowhere near the status of a scholar- but I respect this particular one more than any. This is because he had the nerve to say that a lot of scholars in his time period ignored the literary history behind and within Beowulf. The scholars in my articles mainly either discuss literary significance, historical significance or both. This is because I personally take a heavy interest in furthering my understanding of Beowulf and the history behind anything has always been an interest of mine. Most of the approaches to the topics being discussed are well informed and one can easily tell the scholars definitely know what they are talking about. I found Harris almost comical in his essay about the literary history having been overlooked because of the language he uses in it. I enjoy reading when scholars write about things that are under educated and that people are not well informed of, because it brings a new spin on a new topic that people will be interested in hearing about because it is something they have not previously heard of.
Research Query:
I think the one main question that has occurred to me over and over and over again while researching my text is HOW did the scholars manage to translate Beowulf into terms that people can really understand? I have read Beowulf so many times over now, and I still cannot grasp exactly what is being said throughout the epic. I find it so incredibly difficult to break down and put into thoughts that are coherent enough for me to understand. The language they use is intricate and hard to break down. It might be worth exploring how they took to breaking down Beowulf during the initial translations. The issues being debated and discussed throughout my articles that I found range anywhere from helping summarize Beowulf and its place in Anglo-Saxon literature to the real-life historical context to the literary historical context in and out of the epic. All of them are important to the story and to helping broaden our overall understanding of the epic.
Checkpoint 4
Abstract: The general concept of my journal article will be to explore why Beowulf was so brave against his impending death. He knowingly insisted on fighting and killing the dragon even as he knew his own death was imminent. What prompted him to continue this fight? What made him think that things would be ok if he died? Why was he willing to die? These are all difficult things to prove and I am hoping that by using all of my combined sources I will be able to defend and analyze this topic to the narrowest degree. Beowulf was the epitome of a hero. So why was he so willing to die? Granted while it is noble to die for your country or something you believe in, I do not think Beowulf realized that the country would not be anywhere near better off with him dead. The book is portrayed as an adventure and epic, rather than a tragic story, which makes sense but with its tragic ending I feel as though tragedy should be given at least a small role in it. Beowulf should not have died. I understand that the point was for him to have his bravery and then be gone by the end of it, but the town would have been so much better off had Beowulf not died.
Hill, John. "Narrative Pulse of Beowulf." JSTOR. University of Toronto Press. Web
Peters, Leonard J. "The Relationship of the Old English Andreas to Beowulf." JSTOR. Modern Language Association. Web.
This article will be helpful to me in comparing and contrasting Beowulf to another story. It is good for me to see how one story can influence the writing of another, and this article/journal entry does just that. It shows Beowulf and the Old English Andreas almost in a side by side comparison and it really teaches one some history about the two stories and their influence on the other. Old English is portrayed as copying some of the schematics behind Beowulf and they credit the epic with helping mold their own story. Beowulf has shaped the writings of so many people because it is so prominent in English cultures today.
Biggs, Frederick M. "Beowulf's Fight with the Nine Nicors." JSTOR. Oxford Univerity Press. Web.
I included this article because it outlines a topic that was not covered in many of the other criticisms written about it. It covers the lack of the criticism of one of the monsters, and Beowulf is mainly about monsters so it is surprising. Monsters in Beowulf are essential to the main storyline and without them then the epic would cease to exist. As the journal points out, there is an "insistence on the centrality of the monsters- specifically Grendel and the dragon- to Beowulf's theme". To see that the monsters are not covered in a lot of the criticisms is shocking.
Checkpoint 2:
Jennie Tanner
Dr. Tracy
Checkpoint 2
Annotated Bibliography:
Frederick M. Biggs. The Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 53, No. 211 (Aug., 2002), pp. 311-328. Oxford University Press.
-This article summarizes how Beowulf has sunken to the bottom of the sea and it explores the unlikely hood of there being boats on the water while he is there. I think this is an interesting concept, because as the article explains, the “absence” or the mention of boats makes the picture that is painted of them swimming, rather than being in a boat- so working to keep their heads above water.
Brooke, Stopford A. "Beowulf' and 'Beowulf-The Poem." English Literature: From the Beginning to the Norman Conquest (1898). Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Dennis
Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Oct. 2014
- I chose this resource because I find it interesting how the author describes Beowulf as being more of a narrative than poetry, and I find her points highly useful in understanding this poem/narrative. I would not have considered it a narrative if I had not read this, as I was in poem mode in regards to this.
Durant, Jack. "The Function of Joy in Beowulf." Tennessee Studies in Literature 7 (1962): 61-69. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. Carol T. Gaffke and Anna J. Sheets. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale Research, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
-I chose this article because Durant outlines three different types or levels of joy that can be found in Beowulf. I would not have thought about three levels and been able to break them down in such a way, hence my reasoning behind this.
Quick Summary of Beowulf:
Beowulf and fourteen others come to help the Scylding tribe, because they had once helped Beowulf’s dad. Over five days and nights Beowulf and a companion swam across the open sea to fight the monsters that lay beneath. Beowulf makes it across the channel and is able to contend that he has escaped with his life and will finish the task he had set forth to complete. Beowulf accomplished his task. Beowulf is known throughout the lands to be this great warrior. He seeks out challenges to better himself, and he is very aware that he is a great warrior. He comes to the lands because he hears of Grendel, a mutant creature. He fights this creature naked, he did not use any weapons. He rips Grendel’s arm off, and Grendel escapes and runs back to his lair under the swamp. Grendel lives with his mother, and Beowulf volunteers to go destroy her. He swims to the bottom of the swamp and has a battle with this creature and slices her head off. He then becomes the king of the land after having sliced her head off. The steward to the king gives Beowulf a sword that is a family heirloom after Beowulf rips Grendel’s arm off.
Quotations:
"He escaped away, enjoyed his life a little while longer; yet behind him, guarding his path, was his right hand…” (73-74)
- I like this quote a lot. It shows the brutal revenge that Beowulf gained on Grendel. Grendel was this horrible monster who did thesepeople so many wrongs and Beowulf just went and ripped his arm off of him and watched Grendel wander away to essentially die from the pain. This most definitely contributed to Beowulf’s ego in that he knows he managed to rip off Grendel’s hand on his own and killed him finally for these people. I think that Beowulf only earned respect by being a good warrior. I wish he had earned respect by not being egotistical.
“I would not bear a sword or weapon to this serpent, if I knew any other way I could grapple with this great beast after my boast, as I once did with Grendel; but I expect the heat of battle-flames there, steam and venom; therefore shield and byrnie will I have on me.” (79)
-I included this quote because quite frankly, I found it to be impressive. Here is Beowulf, being very brave as we know he is. However, he is admitting that while he battled Grendel with no weapon, he will not be doing the same with this other creature- Grendel’s mother so to speak. Beowulf has enough common sense to admit that yes, there are sometimes creatures that are tougher than he, and I think this quote speaks volumes to that. Here is someone who is very high up on their horse yet he finally can admit that he is not able to just win every battle. I see him telling the public that he will be using a shield a sign that he actually has a sense of morality. This shows Beowulf’s more subtle and private side that we do not see anywhere else because he hides behind his mask of tough-guyness.
“It is no mystery to many men, my lord Hygelac- the great meeting, what a time of great struggle Grendel and I had in that place where he made so many sorrows for the victory- Scyldings, life long misery-I avenged them all..” (72)
- Finally, I chose to include this quote for one main reason. This reason being that it seems to show how high Beowulf’s horse stood metaphorically. I took this quote to express that Beowulf believes that this actually makes up for all the lost lives. I do understand that in the time period which this was written, “avengement” meant an eye for an eye. However, from my standpoint, one cannot ever truly avenge a lost life. Lives are all extremely precious and there is no simple avengement of one that is lost, no matter what the circumstances are. The bigger picture here in my eyes is, what would we as a society say today if we thought a lot of lives were “avenged” by the loss of one other life? I can almost guarantee that no one would agree with it.
Checkpoint Three
Annotated bibliography
Acocella, Joan. "Slaying Monsters." General Onefile. The New Yorker, 2 June 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
I chose this article because I personally find Beowulf hard to understand. This article states that in the 1920s it was difficult to find someone qualified to translate Beowulf, and then it goes on to talk about one who was able to. He died before he published it, and it sat hidden until his son took it out and shared it with the world. This struck me as odd, because I would think that he would have wanted to see the outcome of his work and see how many people read his translation of Beowulf. I would not have been able to translate Beowulf today even with the immense understanding people have of the work, so I can only imagine how much of a genius J.R.R must have been to be able to do so himself back in the 1920s when so little was known/was still being figured out about the work.
Biggs, Frederick M. "The Politics of Succession in "Beowulf" and Anglo-Saxon England." JSTOR. Medieval Academy of America, 3 July 2005. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
This reference is one that was cited in Biggs' other article I had found. In class we go over a lot about Anglo-Saxon England obviously, and I felt like this article not only heightened my sense of understanding of Beowulf but also helped with the historical aspects of the epic. The essay starts out by saying it is an "essay about change and the perception of change". Right there in the opening line one knows that it will be mixed with historical facts because kingdoms were being fought over and changing hands during medieval times. I like that this article also addresses that "he uses treasure to draw attention to the moment that epitomizes the problem". The use of shiny things in the Medieval ages to make up for losses and deaths in battle will never cease to amaze me and it's definitely a topic I would like to see more of in future articles that I research. This article also considers how Beowulf cannot "prevent the historical fall of the Geats". The article then goes on to say how the poet made all of this real to the audiences and it "forces them to consider several possibilities".
Harris, Joseph. "Beowulf in Literary History." JSTOR. Penn State University Press, 1 Nov. 1982. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
I chose this article for the main reason of it's background. It is an older article than most of the ones I previously found, and it also delves into the literary history behind Beowulf. While the historical significance lies with the Anglo-Saxon history, I believe the literary history of the epic is important just as much. This article is bold enough to say that we have ignored much of the literary history with Beowulf which I must say I found quite intriguing. It is also stated that the "anthology- like" characteristics in Beowulf were overlooked by many other scholars. Harris essentially undermines some of the previous research done around Beowulf and shows how the other scholars were not looking with their eyes fully open while analyzing the text. After having read this article I can see where Harris is coming from and I have to agree that there were most likely many instances where this is true.
Scholar Reflection:
I have found a wide variety of scholars with my research. I think the most interesting one’s writings was the one that was published in 1980’s. This is surprising because as time passes one would think that scholars would become more interesting with what they have to say- I know this is bold of me to be saying considering I am nowhere near the status of a scholar- but I respect this particular one more than any. This is because he had the nerve to say that a lot of scholars in his time period ignored the literary history behind and within Beowulf. The scholars in my articles mainly either discuss literary significance, historical significance or both. This is because I personally take a heavy interest in furthering my understanding of Beowulf and the history behind anything has always been an interest of mine. Most of the approaches to the topics being discussed are well informed and one can easily tell the scholars definitely know what they are talking about. I found Harris almost comical in his essay about the literary history having been overlooked because of the language he uses in it. I enjoy reading when scholars write about things that are under educated and that people are not well informed of, because it brings a new spin on a new topic that people will be interested in hearing about because it is something they have not previously heard of.
Research Query:
I think the one main question that has occurred to me over and over and over again while researching my text is HOW did the scholars manage to translate Beowulf into terms that people can really understand? I have read Beowulf so many times over now, and I still cannot grasp exactly what is being said throughout the epic. I find it so incredibly difficult to break down and put into thoughts that are coherent enough for me to understand. The language they use is intricate and hard to break down. It might be worth exploring how they took to breaking down Beowulf during the initial translations. The issues being debated and discussed throughout my articles that I found range anywhere from helping summarize Beowulf and its place in Anglo-Saxon literature to the real-life historical context to the literary historical context in and out of the epic. All of them are important to the story and to helping broaden our overall understanding of the epic.
Checkpoint 4
Abstract: The general concept of my journal article will be to explore why Beowulf was so brave against his impending death. He knowingly insisted on fighting and killing the dragon even as he knew his own death was imminent. What prompted him to continue this fight? What made him think that things would be ok if he died? Why was he willing to die? These are all difficult things to prove and I am hoping that by using all of my combined sources I will be able to defend and analyze this topic to the narrowest degree. Beowulf was the epitome of a hero. So why was he so willing to die? Granted while it is noble to die for your country or something you believe in, I do not think Beowulf realized that the country would not be anywhere near better off with him dead. The book is portrayed as an adventure and epic, rather than a tragic story, which makes sense but with its tragic ending I feel as though tragedy should be given at least a small role in it. Beowulf should not have died. I understand that the point was for him to have his bravery and then be gone by the end of it, but the town would have been so much better off had Beowulf not died.
Hill, John. "Narrative Pulse of Beowulf." JSTOR. University of Toronto Press. Web
Peters, Leonard J. "The Relationship of the Old English Andreas to Beowulf." JSTOR. Modern Language Association. Web.
This article will be helpful to me in comparing and contrasting Beowulf to another story. It is good for me to see how one story can influence the writing of another, and this article/journal entry does just that. It shows Beowulf and the Old English Andreas almost in a side by side comparison and it really teaches one some history about the two stories and their influence on the other. Old English is portrayed as copying some of the schematics behind Beowulf and they credit the epic with helping mold their own story. Beowulf has shaped the writings of so many people because it is so prominent in English cultures today.
Biggs, Frederick M. "Beowulf's Fight with the Nine Nicors." JSTOR. Oxford Univerity Press. Web.
I included this article because it outlines a topic that was not covered in many of the other criticisms written about it. It covers the lack of the criticism of one of the monsters, and Beowulf is mainly about monsters so it is surprising. Monsters in Beowulf are essential to the main storyline and without them then the epic would cease to exist. As the journal points out, there is an "insistence on the centrality of the monsters- specifically Grendel and the dragon- to Beowulf's theme". To see that the monsters are not covered in a lot of the criticisms is shocking.